Safety Camera Initiative (SCI)

SMART POLICING INITIATIVE - FINAL REPORT

SMART POLICING INITIATIVE

The “Smart Policing Initiative” (SPI) grant program seeks to build upon data-driven, evidence-based policing by encouraging state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to develop effective, economical, and innovative responses to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime within their jurisdictions. Law enforcement agencies designated as SPI Sites work to devise or modify solutions to crimes and/or problems they face in their communities. Working in collaboration with community research partners, the agencies collect and analyze data on teh effectiveness of their methods, which will then be evaluated and published for review by other agencies confronted with similar problems.

PULLMAN'S SAFETY CAMERA INITIATIVE (SCI) PROJECT

PROJECT BACKGROUND

In April 2011, the Pullman Police Department submitted a grant application to participate in Phase III of the Smart Policing Initiative program. The Pullman Police Department's application contained a proposal to launch a Safety Camera Initiative (SCI) Project in Pullman, Washington to install a network of safety cameras in identified target high-crime area in conjunction with Netmotion technology to provide streaming live camera feeds to police officers at the police station and in their patrol units. The goal of the SCI Project is to provide police officers with the evidence-based smart policing tools needed to more effectively deter, detect, and apprehend criminals, with a special emphasis on violent crimes and public disorder in Pullman’s high-density/high-crime district of College Hill.

In September 2011, the Pullman Police Department received notification that it was selected as one of sixteen (16) projects nationwide for the 2011-2013 grant cycle.

PROJECT DETAILS

The Pullman Police Department hopes to accomplish the following goals with implementation of the SCI Project:

deter criminal behavior in the target area,

increase investigation into previously unreported or under reported crimes, and

increase police clearance rates of reported crimes.

The grant proposes to address violent crimes and neighborhood disorders through the use of video cameras placed at public locations where high frequencies of those types of incidents occur. Live video feed will be transmitted to the police station and police cars, and video will be recorded for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. The camera locations will be determined through research and analysis conducted by the project research partner, Washington State University's Division of Governmental Studies and Services. Initial research indicates that the Adams Mall area of College Hill is a location where the cameras could have a positive impact, although other locations may also be identified.